About 30 demonstrators called for the federal New Democratic Party to take a tougher stance against Israel as they picketed the office of Halifax MP Megan Leslie on Tuesday.

The pickets want the NDP to more strongly condemn Israel for its bombing of United Nations schools in Gaza. They also want the New Democrats to denounce Prime Minister Stephen Harper for blaming the strikes on Hamas.

“We want them to issue a statement condemning Israeli shelling of UN facilities,” said John Hutton, an NDP member and organizer of the event.

Leslie, who is on vacation, was not at her Gottingen Street office during the demonstration. She has scheduled a meeting with the demonstrators next week.

She said in an interview that her party is already doing what the protesters were asking for. Last week, NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar called Israel’s shelling of a United Nations shelter “horrifying and completely unacceptable.”

The prime minister has said Hamas shoulders all of the blame for the more than 1,800 casualties of the war, many of them civilians.

The federal Liberal party has also taken a hard line defending Israel’s actions as a justified defence against Hamas rocket attacks.

The NDP has condemned Hamas as well, but criticized Harper for his strict pro-Israel stance.

“There isn’t something as simple as one side is right and one side is wrong,” Leslie said. “And for the Harper government to have unwavering support of one side is not balanced and not helpful.”

The New Democrats have come under particular pressure from groups who want the party to call on Israel to end its offensive. Last week, a dozen protesters held a sit-in at Dewar’s Ottawa office.

Several New Democrat MPs have been vocal supporters of Palestine in the past. But some critics say the party has become more muted on the issue under leader Tom Mulcair.

The party says it has not changed its position on Gaza. It supports an end to the blockade and a negotiated two-state solution.

The event in Halifax was organized by the group Solidarity Halifax in conjunction with Canadians, Arabs and Jews for a Just Peace, Students Against Israeli Apartheid at Dalhousie, and Independent Jewish Voices.